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Moscow yesterday refused to extradite a Ukrainian female pilot celebrated as a national hero at home but described as a “daughter of Satan” in one tabloid front-page headline in Russia.

The case of Nadiya Savchenko, who was captured by pro-Russian separatists last month and is now facing murder charges for allegedly assisting in the killing of two Russian journalists, epitomises the poisonous media war being waged between the countries.

Ms Savchenko, 33, from Kiev, has become a cause célèbre since she was captured on June 18 in a suburb of Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine. A video made the next day,